Possibility of South-North-US Meeting at Next Month's Munich Security Conference... North Korea Likely to Attend with Kim Sun-kyung Injured

Minister Kang Kyung-wha Considering Attendance at MSC... Possibility of South Korea-US Foreign Ministers Meeting Within a Month Raises Attention

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It is known that North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-kyong is scheduled to attend the Munich Security Conference (MSC) held in Munich, Germany from the 14th to the 16th of next month, drawing attention to the possibility of a meeting between Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 27th, Minister Kang Kyung-wha is reportedly considering attending the MSC next month. Earlier, AFP reported that North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-kyong received a personal invitation from the MSC chairman and will attend the conference next month. Established in 1963, the MSC is attended by high-ranking officials from various countries who conduct bilateral or multilateral talks. From the U.S., Secretary Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are expected to attend.

Following the talks held this month in San Francisco, there is a possibility that a South Korea-U.S. foreign ministers’ meeting will be held in Munich in about a month. Additionally, high-level talks between North and South Korean officials, as well as between North Korean and U.S. officials, are cautiously anticipated. There is also speculation that the North Korean Foreign Minister, replaced by military official Ri Son-gwon, might meet through multilateral talks.

The key focus is what message North Korea will deliver through the bilateral or multilateral talks at this MSC. On the 21st, through Ju Yong-chol, the counselor of North Korea’s Geneva mission attending the United Nations (UN) Disarmament Conference, North Korea stated that “since the U.S. ignored the year-end deadline for denuclearization, North Korea will no longer be bound by the promise not to conduct nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches.” Since the breakdown of dialogue in October last year, inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S. relations have remained stalled.

Furthermore, if the South Korea-U.S. foreign ministers’ meeting takes place, inter-Korean cooperation projects such as North Korean individual tourism, which President Moon Jae-in mentioned in his New Year’s address, are expected to become major agenda items. The government plans to hold a working group meeting early next month to discuss sanctions, including individual tourism. Based on the results of the working group meeting, it is highly likely that the South Korea-U.S. foreign ministers will continue their dialogue. Discussions related to the South Korea-U.S. Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing, which is currently in a state of agreement hiatus without finding common ground, may also be brought to the table.

Meanwhile, at this MSC, instability in the Middle East due to clashes between the U.S. and Iran is expected to be a major agenda. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is also known to be attending.

The South Korean government decided on the 21st to independently dispatch troops to the Middle East’s Strait of Hormuz. The operational radius of the Cheonghae Unit in the Gulf of Aden, Somalia, will be temporarily expanded to the Strait of Hormuz. This measure considers the safety of Korean nationals and vessels, stable oil supply, and relations with Iran. South Korea will not join the U.S.-led escort coalition but will operate independently.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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